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Saturday, August 4, 2012

WEEK IN REVIEW: 7/29 - 8/4

Week In Review is the feature where Kyle (that's me!) goes over current events in music and beyond. It's pretty much the only news post on this blog and as such it is both the best and worst written news you'll read here. You can follow me on Twitter here if you feel so inclined. I promise daily opinions on a whole buffet of topics you don't care about at all.

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* Bill Doss, leader of Olivia Tremor Control and co-founder of the Elephant 6 collective has died at age 43. Bill Doss is something of a personal hero to me, and It's difficult for me to articulate how crushing of a loss this is. Their seminal debut album Dusk at Cubist Castle is a record that redefined the way I listened to music in a time where my taste was still developing. Bill Doss' defining project and his blend of psychedelia and abstract pop songs is among the most refreshing and unique things I've ever encountered in music to this day.

When Jay Reatard died the overwhelming sadness that I read from his fans is what made me discover his music in the first place. It's cliche to say this, but I can only hope that if one thing emerges from this terrible tragedy it's this: more people hearing those 2 incredible Olivia Tremor Control albums. When the news first broke I couldn't even believe it was real... but in a way Bill Doss is lucky because he gets to live forever in a way that most of us will never achieve.

"What do you do when the magic's gone?" - Bill Doss

Nothing else in music matters this week by comparison, but here's a few other things.

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*Kendrick Lamar has released a new video for "Swimming Pools (Drank)" from his upcoming major label debut album good kid, m.A.A.d city. Judging from the lyrical content of this new song and the styling of capitalizing "A.A." in the album title it's a pretty good bet that his new release is going to explore alcoholism.

*Feist and Mastodon have a new video/interactive thing where you can cross-fade their respective versions of "A Commotion". The video features Feist tearing the shit out of some poor house, which is pretty random but whatever. This is probably as close to Feistodon being an actual thing that we're actually going to get.

*Animal Collective released the first taste of their upcoming album Centipede Hz via "Today's Supernatural"...the internet proceeded to explode immediately afterward.

*Divine Fits played their first show in Austin Texas, here's some footage of the Dan Boeckner led "My Love Is Real".

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*The 2012 Olympic Games have begun in London, did you see the batshit crazy opening ceremony? here's your chance.